Loose Ends
by fearlessxxliars
Summary: Emily and the girl have just been rescued from the dollhouse. Finally feeling as things are back to normal, Emily starts to fall for Sara. But will an unexpected guest ruin things or will it push their relationship up to the next level? FEMSLASH / DISCLAIMER I don't own PLL or the Characters
1. Chapter 1

It was just supposed to be another spring day, one where she was allowed to just feel like a normal person for a change. But of course that's not how it was, the night before she had kissed her new found lust maybe even love interest, Sara. Emily had a soft spot for a girl with a big heart, and after all they had been through it just felt right. Maybe she was crazy for thinking this was a good idea but recently Emily's outlook on life had changed. You had to live like there's no tomorrow, because you would never know when it was going to be the last time you saw someone, the last time you got to tell someone you loved them. All of it was confusing yet was perfectly clear in her own head.

Walking into the house after school with Sara's hand in her own she heard chatter in the living room. With a puzzled look she quickly let go of the blondes hand and asked her to go upstairs. The voice she thought she heard filled her stomach with butterflies and knots all at the same time. Stepping into the living room she saw Paige sitting on the couch, talking to her mother. But as her eyes made their way to Emily they increased double in size with excitement. That smile Paige flashed was enough to make Emily melt.

"What–What are you doing here? I thought I talked you out of coming back? You were safer far away…" Her words weren't meant to be hurtful, she tried to show it was out of concern as to why she asked what she was doing there.

"After talking to your mom, she thought it would be best for me to come back. I shouldn't have run, but I didn't know what else to do. It seemed like the easy way out but the only thing I could do while you were here and I was there was worry." Paige's words were enough to cause tears to trickle out of the brunettes brown orbs. Stepping closer Paige wrapped her arms around Emily and held her close.

"I didn't want you to come back, you were so much better off there. There was no -A, no Rosewood bull–" she stopped short as her mother sat there, getting up to give them their space. As her mother left she sat down in the chair that was just occupied. A blonde girl sat at the stairs wondering who or what the reason this girl was here for.

"Emily, even if you don't see it all the time I do whatever it takes to protect you. For once I've realized being away from you isn't protecting you at all. I'm sorry it took me this long to figure it out."

Taken back by the words Emily felt her teeth sink into her lower lip. She didn't know how to tell Paige about all the things that had happened since she left. Her hands anxiously rubbing at the fabric of her leggings that hugged her thighs. "It can't be what it used to be. It doesn't matter how much has changed or now you're back…I feel like my heart was finally mended that I could be happy and all of a sudden you're here. Which I'm very happy about don't get me wrong. There's just, someone else."

Paige was stunned, stupefied for a lack of a better description. She suddenly found herself at a loss for words. "I–just remembered I told Sydney we could meet up for pizza and I'm running out of time."

Emily's heart sank into her stomach as she walked out the door. She wasn't happy with how things had gone but she couldn't deny she had Sara now, someone who seemed to understand what she was going through and was strong enough to keep pushing forward. Part of her wanted to run after Paige while the other half said she couldn't do that to her new found girlfriend. As she stood up she headed up the stairs completely ignoring the blonde sitting on the steps.

"Emily…" Sara muttered softly as she stood up. She didn't want to stir the pot, but she also didn't want her to stay upset when she didn't need to. As Emily finally made it into the bedroom she sat down with her head down, like someone who had just seen their dog get hit by a car. So cautiously Sara sat down beside her. Placing a hand on her back Emily could only keep herself together for so long.

"I don't know why she's here. I told her not to come back a few weeks ago and all of a sudden there she is." Emily said as a tear escaped her eye. "I'm not going to lie to you, I loved her. But she bailed on me like she didn't have a choice when she did. She could have stayed until graduation. But when I'm finally happy she shows up. Why can't I be happy for two minutes?" As she was preparing to keep rambling on she was stopped abruptly by a pair of soft pink lips crashing into her own. The blonde slowly laid her down kissing her gently.

Emily's hand traced her sides mindlessly as she forgot what had just happened. Not that she wasn't upset but it was clear Sara was showing she cared that she didn't need to worry about anything. "You don't have to listen to anyone but yourself. Your heart is yours to control. If your heart says something you need to listen to it. Unless your brain tells you it's a bad idea take the risk. Be who you want to be, and share that with someone special."

She was right, she couldn't let anyone tell her who to feel things for and who not to. Even if Paige hadn't mentioned feelings it was an underlying message as to why she had returned. Unless of course Emily was way off in thinking that way, but she was almost positive that was the reason. As Sara attempted to move her lips down the tan skinned girls neck Emily let out s soft moan "Baby–my mom is home, we can't."

Sara nodded slowly and found her way back onto the bed laying beside her. Disappointed she looked up towards the open bedroom door. Contemplating she wondered if she could just close it, getting whoever this girl was off of Emily's mind was the main focus. When Sara no longer heard Pam's voice Emily's phone vibrated as did Sara's the message read she'd gone to the store and she'd be back in an hour. Licking her lips she tossed her phone aside making her way closer to the brunette once more. Her legs now sitting on either side of her girlfriend she rolled her hips softly into Emily's.

Emily couldn't refuse the feeling she got every time Sara kissed her, but now this feeling was being mixed in and she liked it much to her surprise. There was no time for talking, no words needed to be said. They both knew what was happening and both seemed to be eager to engage in such activities. Sara's shirt was peeled off slowly as Emily kissed her neck. The petite blonde made soft moaning sounds mixed with whimpers of pleasure as she reached to pull the shirt off of Emily's tan skin, wanting to see her beautiful body.

-A short while later-

"I just–popped your cherry.." She said in disbelief. Sara panicked she hadn't meant any harm by it, but as it happened she was glad it was over quickly. "I'm sorry, I should have told you. But I wanted you, I wanted you to be my first."

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Thank you so much for reading this, it means the world to me. This is my first fan fiction in a long time! If you guys want me to continue let me know. I hope you enjoyed this, thus far. UPDATE 20/07/15 I took the smut out due to the fact it was too soon for it. Maybe I'll add it in later on.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily wasn't sure what it was about what she had heard the night before that confused her more; was it Paige's return or was it Sara's confession. Either way Emily was feeling extremely odd, there was no real way to explain it. Part of her just wanted to go to bed and wake up to a solution but that wasn't how life worked. You had to live day to day and make decisions that would possibly affect the rest of your life. School the next day was less than fun as the brunette had hardly slept, she was tired and didn't want to speak.

Sitting there at their usual table there was Emily, first out of all four girls. It was probably about 5 minutes until lunch but she had told the teacher she needed some air, so she just let her leave class early. Staring blankly at the wall a familiar voice filled the air, it was Alison of all people.

"Earth to Em, hey…you okay? You look like you either crashing from a high or you didn't sleep because something is on your mind. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but there offer is there." Hearing Alison speak in such a way that made Emily believe she truly did care was a nice change of pace. Emily could easily tell when the blue eyed blond bombshell was lying, now wasn't one of those times.

Taking a deep breath the brunette shook her head "No–I'm not okay, but there's not a whole lot we can do about the stupid things life throws at us. I can't say specifically what happened, but more or less something came up from the past to bite me and then a new chapter of my life has a twist at the very beginning. It's just too much." She muttered before feeling a hand on her back rubbing it soothingly. "She was a virgin damn it, you're not supposed to have sex with someone who you're barely with, it has to be someone you love–" but she stopped talking there was no need to keep talking considering Alison was her first, or the one who popped the official cherry.

Alison had a grin on her face, she couldn't help it but that didn't mean her concern for the brunette had vanished. Softly she spoke wanting to give her some credit. "You're strong, you don't need to worry about what's happening because you'll always do the right thing even if it's not what you want. That's how you are, you put other people's happiness ahead of your own. Not a lot of people are like that, it makes you special."

The urge to just cry and fall into Alison's arms was overwhelming. Lack of sleep and over the top emotions would do that to anybody. But instead she sat still with her hands covering her face. Without even really paying attention her phone began going off, the last thing she wanted was to talk to anyone. It took a few missed calls before she attempted to uncover her face and look for her phone Ali had already answered it.

"Sara, don't you have things to do? Life isn't something you're used to having and I get that, but my God do you need to act like a lost puppy every time she's out of the same room? Is she even allowed to have friends while she's dating you?"

Emily reached for the phone but didn't have enough energy to actually take the phone from her. "Ali, stop it! I told you what happened in confidence not so you could throw it back in her face."

As the blonde hung up she shrugged her shoulders lightly "You might not be in your shell anymore, but you don't always know when to put your foot down. If she's like this and the relationship is new how is she going to be in two months or six months? I'm looking out for you, because unlike this bitch I love you. You shouldn't have to deal with this bullshit, she doesn't deserve you."

There was one part of that entire speech that Emily held onto. Three deep meaning yet so confusing words she had heard from a couple other people, but never once had Ali said that to her. If she wasn't confused enough this made it even worse. "How do you know what she's feeling, and wait–. Did you just say you loved me?"

Blush filled the blondes face immediately, embarrassment from admiring feelings and Emily asking overwhelmed her. Her heart raced, licking her lips she nodded. She needed to play this off like it was no big deal. "You know I do, it's not a secret. I'm closer to you than anyone else on the planet, I'm sure I've said it to you before. I'm not trying to take you away from this girl–even if I could do it in my sleep I'm trying to be a good person."

Emily wasn't sure if she should feel flattered, angry or confused. Instead of just one she ran with all three. "I can't do this right now. What I wanted was a friend, not to sit here and listen to you brag about how wrapped around your finger I am and will probably always be."

Hearing the bell it was clearly time for lunch, but Emily wasn't hungry all she wanted was to go home and sleep. Going home would get her away from Alison but then she'd have to encounter Sara, there was no winning either way she went. "I'm going home, I don't feel well."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you guys for being so supportive! I know the number of follows or favorites isn't massive but it's enough to make me feel like I'm doing something right. Thank you all so much once more, I really hope you like this next chapter.

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Emily pulled her bag off of her shoulder and tossed it onto the bed, she was finally going to be able to relax and maybe get a nap in. But that fantasy was short lived, as she was finally laying down on her bed her door opened loudly and quickly. Though her eyes were closed, she rolled them before hearing that familiar voice screaming at her.

"How could you do this? How could you tell her of all people? I thought this was as special to you as it was to me. God, Em-"

Though it wasn't meant to trigger a nerve, it did. Nobody but Alison had ever called Emily, Em. And she intended it to stay that way. "Don't, I've asked you so many times not to call me that. And you know what, I told her because I'm upset. I want to feel like someone gave two shits okay? And if someone threw out there that you were their first time when you barely know them it's enough to rattle you."

Sara was a little taken back by her words, but she wasn't going to back down this easily. The blonde came into the room with her fist balled by her sides. "What, are you still so in love with Alison or whatever her names is? Am I not good enough for you?" Sara was turning out to be the jealous type much to Emily's surprise.

The brunette sat up slowly and narrowed her eyes, raising an eyebrow in a 'are you kidding me' matter. "Seriously? Are you so jealous of her that you assume I still love her? Well maybe if you weren't acting like this it wouldn't be an issue. I'm allowed to have friends, I'm allowed to confide in people. So don't make me look like a bad guy for expressing to my friends what I'm feeling."

Sara crossed her arms and bit down on her lower lip, feeling bad to a certain degree but not entirely. "It's one thing to confide in people, but when you have your friends yell at me for calling you it's an issue. Shouldn't I be able to call you when I need you? Sometimes I wanna talk to you too. I mean yeah I see you at home, but what about the rest of the time?"

Taking a deep breath the brunette ran her fingers through her hair "Can you stop being like this, I thought you were different. I thought you might actually be someone who's good for me. Come here-." she whispered, the blonde caved rather quickly and Emily placed her hands on the girls hips looking up at her. "Please, don't worry about anyone else. I'm with you for a reason. Alison is someone I'm always going to be close to. That's not going to change, so you either need to learn how to live with it or we can't make this work. It's up to you."

Leaning down she kissed Emily's beautiful lips softly, nodding slowly before speaking quietly. "I'm sorry. I just don't want her thinking she can still have you, she always get everything she wants. Little miss perfect, she's stupid for not wanting to be with you. You're amazing."

Emily pulled back her hands, she wasn't sure if she was more upset with what had happened that morning with Ali, or the fact Sara was assuming she still loved Alison on top of a number of accusations. "You don't even know her, you don't have a clue what her life is like. You of all people should know better than to judge people. I can't do this, I'm trying to sleep. Don't you have work or something?"

Nobody had expected this conversation to take a turn like this, especially not Sara. But what Sara wasn't aware of was that even through thick and thin Alison had always been there for her. Maybe not in the best ways but she was there when she felt all alone. Emily just needed time to think, time to really lay out her options and see what was best for her. Of course other's mattered, but she was told it was finally time to put her own happiness first. Through therapy Emily had learned a lot of things.

Instead of making a big deal about it she didn't let Sara speak, she was on her way out the door within a few seconds of getting off of the bed. After getting into the car all Emily did was drive, she didn't have a destination set in stone, but where she ended up wasn't exactly where anyone would truly expect to look. Kissing Rock. As Emily sat firmly on that famous rock near the lake each option was weighed out in her head. Alison was like a time bomb, nobody knew when she was going to go off, and Sara was still struggling with adjusting to the real world after having been away for so long.

A small wind kicked up causing Emily to cross her arms over her chest, not that it was cold but she was in just a small white t-shirt. It wasn't long until she heard a faint sound of leaves crunching under someone's foot. Of course her instincts told her it was A, but as she turned around there was her first love.

Alison approached the girl slowly, taking a seat beside her on the rock their initials had been spray painted on. Leaning over without saying a word Emily sighed. "I know-." she whispered wrapping an arm around Emily holding her gently. "It's strange how we have the same idea of coming here when we need to get things off of our minds. Riding our bikes here together, spending hours talking about silly things like it was nothing. You don't have to stay with this girl, if you're not happy now I think you need to realize you're not going to be happy later. I'm only telling you this because I want what's best for you."

Without saying a word Emily looked up at the blonde and pushed her lips against Alison's. Of course Alison thought nothing of it as she placed her hand on the other girls cheek as she returned the kiss. It was gently yet so full of love, at least that's what it felt like to Emily. As they pulled away slowly Emily bit softly into her own lower lip. "I shouldn't have done that-I'm sorry." she said realizing what she had just done, now she had to face the truth and tell Sara. But part of her didn't care what would happen because of it.

"I'm the last person to judge you for kissing another person. But I think you should listen to your heart. You know where to find me if you make the choice I think you'll make." And with that she was gone, leaving her more confused than she already had been. But if she really thought about things, she wouldn't have kissed Alison if the feelings weren't there, and after what happened with Sara she wasn't sure what to feel but she knew it wasn't love. Not that it couldn't turn into that but it wasn't nearly at that stage just yet.

Emily's phone buzzed a few times before she even looked at it, swiping her finger across the screen she saw Sara's name. Reading the message she took a deep breath, it felt like such a heavy weight rested on her chest and shoulders and nothing she did would shake that feeling.


	4. Chapter 4

You guys are seriously amazing. If you have anything you want incorporated please let me know! I know this is short but it was written in the spur of a moment.

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-Three days later-

Test after test, studying to no end seemed to be what made this day the longest one ever. By the time she got home she had no energy. All she wanted was to crawl in bed and sleep, but of course by the time she had showered and got ready for bed, there she was all over again this was becoming a routine. Pretending not to see her Emily slipped her headphones into her ears pretending to be reading something on her phone. Sara approached her slowly but all she heard was the sounds of the song blaring in her ears. She knew it was rude but so was talking to someone while they were doing something else.

 _Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted_

Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it's all rusted

Did you have to hit me, where I'm weak? Baby, I couldn't breathe

And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me

 _Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times, you and I_

 _Cause baby now we got bad blood_

 _You know it used to be mad love_

Feeling a headphone yanked from her ear she protested "Ow-what the hell? Is tapping me on the shoulder not a good enough way for you to my attention?" she growled softly as she became annoyed. "What do you want, you have my full attention." She said with as much sarcasm as possible.

Sara didn't know what was coming, or she didn't expect Emily to lash out at her the way she did. It caused Sara to instantly become reserved, feeling like she wasn't important all over again. No matter how much she heard it, there was no getting the information to imbed itself into the blondes mind. "You can't keep avoiding me. We live in the same house. You need to talk to me, and tell me why you're acting so different. What did you do, what happened to change things all of a sudden?"

"Have you considered maybe I need space? You constantly suffocate me, I have to breathe on my own." She stated with a clearly annoyed tone in her voice. "What do you want me to tell you? That I just don't want to talk to you, that if I had the chance to change things I would? Is that what you want to hear?"

Rage clearly resided behind the blondes eyes as she felt her heart race. Emily had never seen this side of her before, and she didn't like it at all. It was a matter of seconds before Emily was pinned against the wall, her mother was away visiting her father in Texas. She had to fight on her own. Pushing the girl away as hard as she could she watched the blonde snap back to reality, like nothing had just happened. "Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" She asked cocking her head to the side.

"You're insane, you are bat shit crazy. You need to leave the house, right now." Sara looks at Emily with wide doe like eyes, wondering what she had done. "We're done, I can't do this anymore. Every time I think something is going right and I wanna be with you, you hurt me over and over again, and I'm sick of it Ali." As soon as she snapped Emily realized she had said the wrong name. But that was the only other person who had ever made her that mad before. "Oh-my God. Sara..."

It was too late, the water works had begun and there was no shutting them off. But she couldn't risk moving forward to try and comfort her especially after what had just happened. "Call your mom, I need that burn phone back..."

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Holy crap...I wasn't even ready for this.


	5. Chapter 5

As of right now Emily didn't have a clue what to do, not only was she hiding the fact she had kissed Alison, but now having yelled at Sara there wasn't going to be an easy way to smooth things over. Emily stared back at the empty space that used to be occupied by a twin bed. Her heart sank in pain as she recalled all the good memories the girls had made together, she reached for her phone and sent Sara a quick text.

 _I know I'm the last person you want to talk to, but I owe you an apology. For more than one reason. And if you're not feeling up to meeting up, just know I'm sorry...and I miss you._

Tears trickled down the tan skinned swimmer, her body felt weak as she attempted to pay attention in class, but no matter what she did her body wasn't having it. At lunch time she had a single grape, she didn't want anything else. Of course this caused concern among the other three liars. They didn't know what to say, all they knew was something was clearly bothering Emily.

Aria reached over placing a hand on the other girls back rubbing it soothingly. "Hey-whatever's bothering you shouldn't be on your mind. You have better things to do than worry about something that isn't making you happy. I know you always put other people first but sometimes you need to be first."

"And if you can't put yourself first and be happy, making someone else happy is going to be twice as hard. It's okay to lean on us."

Spencer was right, as was Aria. But for so long she had worried about other people instead of herself she just couldn't remember how to be first, how to be worried how she was feeling as a whole. Emily flashed a weak smile as she nodded "I know, but I called her Alison. I don't know how much worse it could possibly be, Sara isn't going to want to talk to me and I don't blame her." Before she could go on the bell rang. Lunch never seemed to be long enough to really talk about anything. But with that Emily went to class, sitting in the back texting because paying attention wouldn't do her any good.

 _Please talk to me..._

She wasn't expecting her to text back, but it was only a few minutes until her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and slid her finger across the screen before reading the text.

 _You said one of the most hurtful things to me, I know I'm unstable and I wish I could fix that. But at the same time, you called me Alison. I don't know which one is worse to be honest. If you want to meet up, meet me at the park after school._

Emilycountedthe hours until school was out. She finally had the chance to sit down and talk to Sara. As soon as that last bell rang she bolted to her car and drove straight to the park. But as she made it into the building she couldn't seem to find Sara. Emily was confused, she had been told she would be here. After waiting for a few minutes she showed up.

"Emily..."

"Hey...I'm glad you made it. I was worried you might have changed your mind. Not that I would blame you. You shouldn't have to put up with things that we had gone through. I'm sorry I hurt you, but I was scared. I said things I didn't mean. And I know you're not Alison, I knew that and still do. But I was hurt you lashed out the way you did..."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, and since then I went and got help. I'm on a medication that helps me stay stable and keeps me from lashing out on people for no reason. I want this to work, I miss you. Being away from you is one of the hardest things I've done in a long time."

Without saying a word Emily wrapped her arms around Sara and kissed her lips gently. She felt a small hand cup her cheek as they kissed. It was soft short and sweet. But it made a point. "Can we spend the night together, just us?"

The blonde nodded slowly and got into the car with Emily. Oddly enough a song they both enjoyed was playing on the radio. They smiled and sang together.

As the girls finally made it to the house they shot straight upstairs building a fort over Emily's bed, it was raining outside like crazy, and the feeling of being cozy was something Emily wouldn't ever get enough of. Putting on some sweats and an oversized sweatshirt she gave Sara something to wear. Opening up her laptop she logged into Netflix. There were so many things on her list to watch, but tonight she wanted to watch either Ninja Turtles or musicals or something from the 80's or earlier.

"What would you rather watch, action, old movies or cheesy romantic musical? I'm torn to be honest. Sixteen Candles and Grease are at the top of my list tonight, we can order pizza too if you're hungry?"

Sara nodded slowly, a smile on her face as she crawled into the fort. Pushing Emily down slowly she kissed her. It had been what had felt like forever since they had spent time together, and why waste it? Emily moaned softly into the girls lips as they kissed, hands wandered on their own.


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